Electric heater



28, 1951 N. w. HATKER 2,565,769

ELECTRIC HEATER Filed March 2, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NVENTOR.

[Vang azz Mflailfer Aug. 28, 1951 w, HATKER 2,565,769

ELECTRIC HEA'ITER Filed March 2, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR.

Patented Aug. 28, i951 ELECTRIC HEATER Norman W. Hatker, Chattanooga, toTennessee Valley Authority,

Tenn., assignor Muscle Shoals,

Ala., a. corporation of the United States Application March 2, 1949,Serial No. 79,273

8 Claims.

This invention relates to domestic heating appliances' and has for itsobject the provision of a portable or semi-portable electric heaterbuilt low and compact enough to enable it to be placed under a sofa,chair or other piece of furniture for effective operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a. convenient heaterwhich because of its low register and surface temperature is perfectlysafe for use in the home.

Another advantage of the invention lies in the fact that it mayinconspicuously occupy floor space already in use and thus need nothamper the harmonious arrangement of furniture nor interfere with thedecorative scheme of a room.

Still another advantage of my heating appliance is that its intake anddischarge act directly along the surface of the floor thus, effectivelyheatin the coolest part of the room.

Still other objects and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing description of the present invention illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a heater embodying myinvention and showing in phantom its location beneath a piece offurniture.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a heater embodying my present invention, theheater having its top plate removed and its inner compartment brokenaway in part to show the heatin element.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fi 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2. I

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

Similar reference numerals, in the several figures, indicate similarparts.

Supplemental heating appliances now in use consist of the conventionalwall-type and floortype heaters. The wall-type heater not onlynecessitates expensive cutting into the wall, but also requires acertain amount of floor area since an object cannot be placed in frontof the unit without blOCkll'lg the heat or causing heat damage to thesurface of the obstructing article of furniture. The latter disadvantageis likewise inherent to the floor-type heater in addition to the obviousspace it requires on which to rest.

An equally important objection of the housewife to these conventionalheaters is their unavoidable interference with the aesthetic scheme ofthe home. Repeated attempts to simulate the appearance of an attractivepiece of furniture have merely resulted in added manufacturing 2 cost ofthe article without a successful solution to the decorators problem.

The heater that I have devised affords a more efficient heat producingmeans and at the same time is compactly designed to be located under.

a sofa, lounge chair or other piece of furniture in'front of which thefloor space is normally open and unobstructed. This accordingly permitsa free flow of warm air without necessitating a special accommodatingarrangement of the furniture in the room. Furthermore, the device isinconspicuous in its hidden position and need not be considered in theharmonious or aesthetic plan of the room furnishings.

A preferred housing or shell for my heating mechanism is shown in Figs.1 and 2. It comprises a bottom plate l0 and a top plate II, the twobeing connected by small machine screws (not shown) to oppositelydisposed side panels I2-|2 In plan these plates have a comparativelywide forward span and are progressively tapered toward the rear where adefining arcuate edge is formed as seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

A forward section [4 of the bottom plate is designed to rest upon thesurface of the floor and terminates midway in a vertical wall I5 whichjoins the forward section to an offset rear section It of said plate. Alast mentioned section is provided with a central opening H whichoccupies the major portion of the offset section and supplements therear air intake ll thereby afforde ing an increased intake area forsupplying cold air to the heating element. The rearward end of theheater is supported by an arcuate leg piece I8 rigidly secured to adownwardly projecting lip [9 formed at the extremity of the offsetsection 16.

The plate ll forming the top panel of the heater is a solid sheet ofmaterial having a raised rearward portion 20 as shown in Fig. 3. Inorder to aid in the circulation of air through the easing as well as toaugment the graceful lines of the appliance, I prefer to incline theconnecting section 2| between the offset section of the top I. plate Il.

Within the intake compartment defined by offset sections IT and 20 is anelectric motor 22 suspended from a transverse support member 23 andtilted, to incline the axis of its armature, as shown. The motorarmature shaft carries a suction fan 24 which draws cold air from thesurface of the floor and forces it through the heating chamber of theappliance. By mounting th assembly in the tilted position shown in Fig.3, the fan is able to effectively serve both the bottom andrearinconfronts a pair of inclined foraminous deflectors 21 and 28.These are in the form of miniature louvers having finely divided tiltedpanels or slats extending transversely the entire width of the chamber,the plates in which they are formed being secured having end flangesattached to side panels l2, |2 of the appliance.

A final deflecting screen 29, of a similar construction as the precedingdeflectors 27 and 28, forms a partition between the intake chamber andthe heating compartment and is secured to the side panels through theend tabs 30. I have found that by attaching the deflector 29 so that thesurface thereof is reversely curved in amanner substantially as shown inFig. 2' and Fig. 3, the slats of the screen will uniformly distributethe current of air throughout the heating compartment accordinglyresulting in a more uniform and effective final output of warmed air.

The forward compartment of the heater contains' an open ended inner duct3| which comprises oppositely disposed horizontal plates 32, 32 andvertical side walls 33, 33 The free ends of each panel of this innerduct are formed with inclined front and rear flaps 33-35 (Fig. 3) bentoutwards at an angle of approximately 60 degrees to control a peripheralstream of surface cooling air in a manner to be later described. Anasbestos millboard insulation 36 is fastened to the outer sides of theduct 3| and the combined assembly is held in spaced relation to the foursides of the housing ll of the heater by means of a plurality of tubularspacers 37. These spacers are placed in a vertical position between theperiphery of the duct 3| and the inner surface of the housing. The tubespenetrate th insulating mill-, board and are rigidly secured to each ofthe spaced panels by machine bolts 38 which extend through the housing,tube spacer and duct panel to the interior of the heating chamber whereeach has a nut 39 threaded thereon.

The interior of the innerduct 3| forms the compartment wherein the coldair taken from the surface of the room floor is heated. This compartmentcontains a traversing coiled wire resistance heating element 40positioned in tiers as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The heating coil 40 iscarried by a number of vertical supports consisting of apertured ceramicbushings 4| vertically spaced by short lengths of metal tubing 42. Asbest seen in Fig. l, the upper and lower bushing of each support arelikewise spaced respectively from the horizontal plates 32, 33 of theduct by similar lengths of tubing.

The successive elements of each support are united in a rigid assemblyby wire strands 43 which are lodged in the peripheral recesses 44 of thebushings and twisted together above and below each individual bushing.The free ends of wire at each extremity of a support member arecontinued through alined apertures 45 in th ductv Metallic panels andagain twisted as at 46.

sleeves 41 are placed over the projected twisted ends of the wire, andcrimped thereon to retain 4 the latter and thus complete a firm supportassembly for the heating element 40.

The heating element and fan motor are connected to a conventionalelectrical lead-in, shown diagrammatically at 4B in Fig. 2. This lead-inpasses through one of the side walls I2 of the heater to provide currentfrom a convenient wall outlet in the room. I also prefer to provide suchtrade refinements as thermostatic control to protect against overheatingin case of fan failure, or

' fusing of the motor and at the ends of the casing .to provide artisticgrills or guards. The latter will consist of a forward grill 49 coveringthe outlet end of the casing and an arcuate grill 50 at its intake end.The additional intake opening I1 paralleling the surface of the floormay advantageously be covered with a porous fabric or relatively closelywoven metallic screen to exclude excessive dust or lint from theinterior of the heater.

In the operation of my heater, the fan 24 draws cold air through thebottom and rear grills of the heater and impels it through the louverdeflectors 21 and 28 causing the air stream to be bent around a veryshort radius. The stream is evenly distributed to the forwardcompartment by the deflecting screen 29 where the greater portion of thevolumes of the indrawn air is directed through the inner duct 3| to beheated by the coils 4B. Simultaneously a portion of the cold air escapesaround the outer edges of flaps 35 and thus circulates between thehousing and the inner ductand serves to keep the temperature of theoutside surface of the heater sufficiently low and to permit its beingboth safe and easily handled. As

- this peripheral stream of cooling air reaches the forward flaps 34 itis directed against the inner surface of the housing and is in turndeflected inwardly where it mixes with the heated air before it passesoutwardly through the grill 49.

Since, in the preferred form of my appliance, the heating and fan unitsare individually controlled it will be seen that my invention may beeffectively used in warm weather as an air circulating means for coolinga room by the operation of the fan unit alone.

From the foregoing description of my invention it will be seen that bythe unique and compact association of the elements shown, I have devisedan efficiently performing heater with a maximum overall height ofapproximately four inches which enables the appliance to be used underan article of household furniture. Since the register and. surfacetemperatures are kept low by the jacket of cooling air, the device isperfectly safe to be used where young children may accidently come intocontact with it. The combined characteristics of efliciency, safety andobscurity make this heater an advancement in household heatingappliances.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, itwill be understood that variation in details of form may be made withoutdeparture from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a heater for use under an article of furniture, the combination'ofa shallow casing comprising vertically offset forward and rearcompartments having openings therein, a motor and an intake fan in saidrear compartment, the blades of said fan being positioned adjacent to'and in a plane inclined at an acute angle to the bottom of said rearcompartment, an innerductcarried within said forward compartment spacedrelation to the surfaces thereof, flanges on one end of said duct fordirecting a portion of air between the spaced surfaces of the duct andsaid casing, flanges at the other end of the duct for directing the airtoward the longitudinal axis of the heater, a heating element withinsaid duct and means for connecting said heater to a source of electricalcurrent.

2. In a heating applianc the combination of a casing comprisingvertically offset forward and rear compartments having end openingstherein, said rear compartment having an additional opening in thebottom thereof, a motor and intake fan suspended from the top of therear compartment at an angle thereto, a series of foraminous deflectorswithin said casing for progressively directing indrawn air toward saidforward compartment, an insulated inner duct carried within said forwardcompartment in spaced relation to the surfaces thereof, means at one endof said duct for directing indrawn cool air around the peripherythereof, a heating element within said duct, means at the other end ofsaid duct for directing said peripheral stream of air inwardly to mixwith the heated air from said duct, and an electrical connection forsupplying current to said motor and heating element.

3. In a heating appliance the combination of a casing comprisingvertically offset forward and rear compartments having end openingstherein, said rear compartment having an additional opening in thebottom thereof, a motor and intake fan suspended from the top of therear compartment at an angle thereto, a series of foraminous deflectorswithin said casing for progressively directing indrawn air toward saidforward compartment, an insulated inner duct carried within said forwardcompartment in spaced relation to the surfaces thereof, means at one endof said duct for directing indrawn cool air around the peripherythereof, a heating element within said duct, means at the other end ofsaid duct for directing said peripheral stream of air inwardly to mixwith the heated air from said duct, independent controls for said motorand heating element and an electrical connection for supplying currentto said controls.

4. In a heater for use under an article of furniture, the combination ofa shallow casing comprising forward and rear compartments havingopenings therein, a motor and intake fan in said rear compartment, theblades of said fan being positioned downwardly of the motor and lying ina plane inclined at an acute angle to the horizontal whereby the motorand fan occupy less vertical space to afford shallowness to thecompartment, foraminous deflectors for changing the direction of flow ofair from said intake fan and directing said air toward the forwardcompart' ment, a foraminous partition between the forward and rearcompartments having deflecting surfaces thereon for equally distributingthe flow of air throughout the forward compartment, an inner ductcarried within said forward compartment in spaced relation to thesurfaces thereof, flanges on one end of said duct for directing aportion of the air between the spaced surfaces of the duct and saidcasing, a heating element within said duct and means for connecting saidheater to a source of electrical current.

5. In a heater for use under an article of furniture, the combination ofa shall-ow casing comprising forward and rear compartments havingopenings therein, the bottom of said rear compartment being foraminousand spaced from the floor of the room to permit additional inlet openingarea, a motor and intake fan in said rear compartment, the blade of saidfan being positioned downwardly of the motor and lying in a planeinclined at an acute angle to the horizontal whereby the motor and fanoccupy less vertical space to afford shallowness to the compartment,deflectors for directing the intake air toward the forward compartment,an inner duct carried within said forward compartment in spaced relationto the surface thereof, means for directing a portion of the air betweenthe spaced surfaces of the duct and said casing, a heating elementwithin said duct, and means for connecting said heater to a source ofelectrical current.

6. In a heater for use under an article of furniture, the combination ofa shallow casing comprising forward and rear compartments havingopenings therein, the bottom of said rear compartment being foraminousand spaced from the floor of the room to permit additional inlet openingarea, a motor and intake fan in said rear compartment, the blade of saidfan being positioned downwardly of the motor and lying in a planeinclined at an acute angle to the horizontal whereby the motor and fanoccupy less vertical space to afford shallowness to the compartment,foraminous deflectors for changing the direction of flow of air fromsaid intake fan and directing said air toward the forward compartment, aforaminous partition between the forward and rear compartments havingdeflecting surfaces thereon for equally distributing the flow of airthroughout the forward compartment, an inner duct carried within saidforward compartment in spaced relation to the surfaces thereof, flangeson one end of said duct for directing a portion of the air between thespaced surfaces of the duct and said casing, a heating element withinsaid duct and means for connecting said heater to a source of electricalcurrent.

In a heater having a suction fan for the intake of cold air, a pluralityof heating coils spaced vertically with the heater, vertical supportsfor holding said coils, said supports comprising bushings andintermediate spacers joined by twisted wire strands.

8. In a heating appliance the combination of a casing comprisingvertically offset forward and rear compartments having end openingstherein, said rear compartment having an additional opening in thebottom thereof, a motor and intake fan suspended from the top of therear compartment and so positioned that the blades of said fan lie in aplane inclined at an acute angle with the horizonal, said casing beingof sufficient shallowness due to the positioning of said fan to permitits use under an article of furniture, a heating element in said forwardcompartment, and means for conveying electrical current into saidappliance.

NORMAN W. HA'IKER,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,688,417 McConnell May 1, 19282,221,647 Mooney Nov. 12, 1940 2,316,563 Clemons Apr. 13. 1943 2,353,247Kuettel July 11, 1944 2,445,250 Steingruber July 13, 1948

